Halloween should be a fun holiday, and with that in mind, I have been publishing Halloween Safety Tips on my agency Facebook page, over the past week. But, just to make sure that your holiday is not a scary one instead of a spooky one, we need to make sure we are guarding against house fire. In the video above, the representative from Underwriters Laboratories talks about the difference between real candles and LED candles, as well as, the how to tell if a decoration is rated for indoor use or outdoor use.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, Halloween ranks among the top 5 days of the year for candle fires. I remember last year, one of the tenants which shares our office building had a candle burning in their window, and it was almost closing time. So, I went over to the window to see if it was really burning, and as I looked inside to see the wick burning, I was relieved to see it was an LED light... trust me, they look very real!

As we all know, especially since the tragedies which occurred in Bastrop & Steiner Ranch are still so fresh in our minds, and since we are not out of this Texas drought yet - we need to do all we can to prevent house fire in Texas. Please follow these simple steps this Halloween and you should have a fun and safe holiday:

• Candles should never be left unattended. Other potentially safer options for candles are votives or "electric" candles
• Keep your decorative Jack-O-Lanterns well away from the front door where a trick-or-treater's costume may brush the flame. Also, keep them away from curtains or other decorations such as fake spider webs, which could ignite a fire.
• Do not use inside UL rated decorations (green UL symbol) outside. Make sure any electric decoration you use outside has the red UL symbol, which means it has been rated for outside use.
• Do not run wires for your outside decorations through closed windows or doors. The wires can become damaged and cause a serious house fire hazard.

So, from your friends at Central Texas Insurance - Mark Lyne - Have a safe, spooky & fun Halloween today! Remember, if you do need us, if you have a Texas home insurance policy with us and there is a house fire, we are here for you. If you need to make a claim, feel free to call us at the agency or on our claims line at 1-800-435-7764.

Central Texas Insurance had some fun getting this video put together. We found somebody with a very cute hamster who could create a quick video with their pet and a message of our choosing - I sort of wished that I had the insurance message say, "CentralTexasInsurance.com Rocks!" or something like that... but, I think it is pretty cool the way it is now *grins*

Remember that we can provide you with quotes for your auto insurance as well as, your home, life and health insurance - just remember to click the Request Package button above!

For health insurance, we also have a new site - Consider Health Insurance - in about 7 minutes we can have your quote ready to go - I was really honored that we recently were able to help a family with a son who has Crohn's Disease get coverage which included coverage without exclusion for their son and all the treatment he will need.

I think it is pretty clear that in this short YouTube video, even this hamster knows that we KNOW insurance!

You can subscribe to my Insurance Channel at CentralTXInsurance on YouTube - we are planning on many more fun and informative videos in the future!.

Get in Touch with us so we can help you and your family with any insurance you need in Texas.!

We have been busy here at Central Texas Insurance working hard for our clients to provide the best insurance coverage for their hard earned dollars. We have also been having a lot of fun being "social" on our new Texas Insurance Facebook page, and we would love to make it fun for you too by bringing a contest with rewards which we know you'll love!

All you have to do is Like our Facebook Page between now and Friday April 15th and at 12 noon Central time on April 15th, 2011 - as long as we have 500 people who "Like" our new Facebook page - we'll randomly select 4 "followers" who will each receive $50 Amazon Gift Cards. Three things you should know:

• We're already to 59 "Likes" so we only need 441 to make it official.
• No... this is not a shameful promotion where we are just trying to get people to "Like" us due to some deep seated insecurity
• C'mon...! Amazon Gift Cards - Seriously, what CAN'T you buy with those things?!?

So head on over to our Texas Insurance Facebook Page and "Like" it to your hearts content... let your friends know... then keep your eye on it and maybe you will be one of the lucky four winners on Tax Day!

Just a quick vlog on auto insurance deductibles and some examples of how they work.

Most folks call and ask for full coverage car insurance - one definition of full coverage insurance is a policy which has deductibles to take care of any physical damage which might occur to the vehicle. It was a real "wake-up" call to me and a surprise that less than about 5 people I spoke with in the first 4 years of owning my insurance agency here in Round Rock actually had a clear understanding of how their auto insurance deductibles worked.

There are two types of auto insurance deductibles, Collision and Other Than Collision (abbreviated as OTC or sometimes referred to as Comprehensive).

In this short YouTube video, I talk about both and describe the basics of what they cover.

You can subscribe to my Insurance Vlog at CentralTXInsurance on YouTube. I know insurance can be a boring topic, but I hope we will be able to make it fun and relevant.

Take care and Drive SAFE!